DistUpgradeProcessImprovements

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 * upgrade could not be calculated (e.g. with unofficial compiz)
 * postinst failures (e.g. firestarter, python-$foo)
 * X didn't came up
 * kernel wouldn't boot
 * upgrader crashes because of environment changes e.g. theme changes, #69124
 * upgrader crahes because of programming errors
 * system behaves differently in a fundamental way after the upgrade (#69145,#69059,#69208)		  * upgrade could not be calculated (e.g. with unofficial compiz: #58424)
 * {pre,post}inst failures (e.g. firestarter, python-$foo: #56779, #59932, #64615, #67913, #67996, #68378, #69019, #69104, #59347, #63450, #66347, #67368, #67559, #67696,#68177,#68765)
 * X didn't came up (#67069)
 * kernel wouldn't boot (#68848)
 * upgrader crashes because of environment changes (e.g. theme changes: #68027, #69124
 * upgrader crahes because of programming errors (#68553)
 * system behaves differently in a fundamental way after the upgrade (#69145,#69059,#69208,#67803)
 * misc problems that makes the upgrade difficult (#69051, #68467, #67090)

Please check the status of this specification in Launchpad before editing it. If it is Approved, contact the Assignee or another knowledgeable person before making changes.

Summary

The upgrade experience from dapper->edgy was not good for a lot of people. This spec tries to identify what caused the problems and what we can do to fix them.

Rationale

Currently there are situations that can make the dist-upgrade fail. In the worst case, this means that the system becomes unbootable or that X won't start. We need to make sure that even when errors happen during the upgrade the system is still bootable and X will still work.

Use cases

1. Alice heard that ubuntu is a great distro. She runs a script in the forums that automatically installs multimedia stuff. When she upgrade later a problem caused by that script makes the system unstable and she is disappointed by ubuntu and the upgrade process.

2. Bob has installed some python modules manually. When he upgrades a python package postinst fails because of this and the upgrade is not fully completted. He decides to try a different distro because of that.

Scope

There are various ways to attack the problem. One is AutomaticUpgradeTesting to find errors early and automatically. Next we need to make sure that packages/postinst scripts with errors can not trash the system (to the extend that this is possible). A option to test/roll-back a upgrade would be good as well, but this is technically very challenging.

Design

The following problems have been observed during the dapper->edgy upgrade:

  • upgrade could not be calculated (e.g. with unofficial compiz: #58424)
  • {pre,post}inst failures (e.g. firestarter, python-$foo: #56779, #59932, #64615, #67913, #67996, #68378, #69019, #69104, #59347, #63450, #66347, #67368, #67559, #67696,#68177,#68765)
  • X didn't came up (#67069)
  • kernel wouldn't boot (#68848)
  • upgrader crashes because of environment changes (e.g. theme changes: #68027, #69124
  • upgrader crahes because of programming errors (#68553)
  • system behaves differently in a fundamental way after the upgrade (#69145,#69059,#69208,#67803)
  • misc problems that makes the upgrade difficult (#69051, #68467, #67090)

Here is a list with all the identified upgrade bugs so far:BR https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+bugs?field.tag=edgy-upgrade

Implementation

Code

Data preservation and migration

Unresolved issues

BoF agenda and discussion

CategorySpec

DistUpgradeProcessImprovements (last edited 2008-08-06 16:36:24 by localhost)